Avocado

I am an avocado fanatic – I could eat them all day long, so naturally, I love guacamole. The local grocery store in Durango recently had a sale on avocados – 10 for $10, which is a steal. We bought 10 and then realized they would go bad before we managed to eat them all, as we’ve been adventuring to different restaurants for dinner in the evening. I decided to make my signature guacamole dish, which is sweet and salty, given that I use Robert’s Reserve Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Dip and sea salt. This dip is very summery, given it’s slight sweetness. Depending on whom I am making the guacamole for, I’ll add cilantro to the top or jalapeños – enjoy with Stacy’s pita chips (Sasha’s favorite), or celery and carrots if you’re being healthy like I am right now!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of Robert’s Reserve Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Dip
3 ripe avocados
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/8 cup of red onions
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 jalapeño pepper (optional garnish)
Handful of chopped cilantro (optional garnish)

Steps

Finely chop 2 garlic cloves and 1/8 cup of red onions and add to mixing bowl
Add 2 tablesppons of the roasted pepper and onion dip (in most grocery stores in a stand alone section near the deli)
Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to the bowl and mix
Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt to the bowl – keep out in case you want to add more later
Pit and add three avocados to the bowl – ideal to use a mortar and pestle (I love this Le Creuset one!)
Mix well and add additional salt if desired

Today’s pace differently dramatically from the first five days. We woke up late (quite a treat after many 5am starts), then walked to Avocado, which is one of the top 5 best restaurants in Athens and is a vegan/vegetarian spot (Sasha is an angel). It was absolutely, 100% delicious. We ordered falafel, a quinoa dish called Ahimsa, and the Forest Burger for Sasha – all amazing. We got a vegan chocolate pie, which tasted like heaven. Afterwards, we hauled over to Hammam, which is a relaxing bath massage place that was highly rated on Trip Advisor. The reviews were not wrong – this was one of the best experiences of the trip – my favorite massage to date. We felt so calm and relaxed after and sat sipping Chai (tea), while talking to a local Greek woman. The people here are so friendly and are helping us with our Greek. So far we’ve mastered hello (yasus), thank you (elfaristo), and please (parakalo) – not sure about any of those spellings! We wandered through Monastiraki, where Sasha got a gyro and I bought one of my Greek best friends a little gift, then I went into H&M. It is infinitely better in Europe, so naturally I had to get a few items. We drank some Greek coffee and wine at Lucafe after, then watched Greek people ice stake at the center of the square. It is obviously not their sport (see picture below) – we had a few giggles about that. After a 2 mile detour to get to dinner (woopsies), we ended up at Manh Manh – another top Trip Advisor spot. The meal was delicious – we have yet to be dissatisfied with food. Thank goodness we walked 8.8 miles today (Google mapped it out), or else I’d be very worried about my new clothes fitting when I return to the states. Hitting the big Athenian monuments tomorrow before our wine tour to Corinth on Sunday!

PS One highlight of the day was being mistaken as Greeks on multiple occasions. Sasha concluded that we are both actually Greek. I’m from the city of Kappa Alpha Theta and he originated in Tau Kappa Epsilon.